


lunch break

by stellafleur



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Drabble, F/M, based off translated cards, i might be completely missing somethings, idk - Freeform, might or might not be part of a bigger project i'm working
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:07:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22233040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellafleur/pseuds/stellafleur
Summary: izumi drops off important documents at itaru's office, and his boss does not approve.
Relationships: Chigasaki Itaru/Tachibana Izumi
Comments: 8
Kudos: 126





	lunch break

according to the time, itaru had at least 20 minutes to drive back to the mankai dormitory, gather his presentation materials that he conveniently left on his desk, drive through 20 minutes of traffic again back to the office, have 10 minutes to sit down and eat, and five minutes to prepare for the meeting at 1 o’clock.

itaru’s forehead broke out into a sweat. 

yup, he can absolutely nail this, he tried to convince himself, as the elevator descended to the ground floor. to be fair, he probably could have avoided all of this mess if he woke up at his usual hour at 6 in the morning. unfortunately, there was an important raid on the kniroun server last night he absolutely could not miss, which made him promptly lose all sense of time and place to concentrate on getting the major loot, exploring the dungeons, and fighting bosses until his eyes hurt. while it was a major victory for his party, it became a loss in real life. to no one’s surprise, he missed his designated alarm for the first time in a long time. naturally, senpai also refused to wake him up, and by the time he left, the kids were already gone, his stomach was full of only bitter coffee, the only thing he could consume quickly that morning, and he was in a foul mood. 

it wasn’t a good morning either. he was quickly swamped with work the minute he sat down on his desk, forced to deal with an unruly client on the phone for half an hour, and he was still hungry. he also had a meeting today in which he had to do his best, otherwise, his coworkers might drag him into some after party he really didn’t want to attend. leave it to him to forget to save the presentation materials on an online server earlier in the week where he could easily access everything, and then forget to bring said important documents on the day of the meeting. he wished he could download some form of a save file of his life, go back in time, and re-do everything instead. 

the elevators dinged, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“chigasaki-san!”

he paused and stared at the woman standing next to him in the elevator. what was her name again? eiko? erika?

“would you like to go to lunch with me?”

on cue, itaru formed his princely persona again. he gave her an apologetic smile. “i’m afraid i can’t. perhaps another time.”

“then maybe-”

he turned away, almost fast walking to the glass doors before she continued asking. right now, he wished he could level up his physical stats like tasuku’s, maybe then he could just run back to the dormitory and make it in time. 

“itaru-san!”

itaru paused upon hearing a very familiar voice. the general director of mankai company, izumi tachibana, entered into his line of vision and smiled.

“there you are!”

his eyes widened and he paused in his tracks. “director!?”

“i’ve been waiting for you actually,” izumi scrounged inside a tote bag on her left shoulder, and handed him a set of familiar folders. they were his presentation materials!

his eyes widened again as he quickly double-checked everything. yes, his notes, copies of the documents for the individuals attending the meeting, and everything relevant was there. “how?”

“you left them on the dinning table! i was about to call out to you but you were already driving away,” izumi stared at him worriedly. “i thought they were important! i’m sorry i couldn’t get them to you sooner! security wouldn’t let me in, unless i had an appointment or a guest-pass, and i needed an appointment to get the guest-pass! anyways-”

regardless, itaru felt himself grinning. “thank you, director.”

izumi blinked, and grinned back. “i- you’re welco-”

“chigasaki!”

itaru straightened, and looked back. izumi peeked over his shoulder to see an old man in an expensive three-piece suit with an affable smile on his face, followed by two stern looking secretaries. as he came closer, he gave a friendly pat on itaru’s shoulder. 

“are you ready for the meeting today?”

'i am now'. itaru gave a firm nod. “absolutely”

“good, i’m-,” the old man suddenly noticed her and she gave him a nod of acknowledgement. “oh.”

it took one second for itaru to realize that his boss has now recognized izumi as his ex-girlfriend, as well as his senpai’s future fiancee. he noticed the man’s features ranging from friendliness, confusion, embarrassment, and then downright disapproval. 

'oh for fuck’s sake'. 

itaru suddenly moved forward to block izumi’s figure from his boss, somehow unable to bear the thought of letting him see her in an unfavorable light thanks to his and chikage’s antics. before he could say anything else, however, one of the secretaries suddenly thrusted a tablet in front of him, perhaps reminding him of another important task or meeting. he muttered something incoherent, and then nodded again to itaru as if in acknowledgement that he’ll somehow get through this non-existent relationship trouble. 

izumi blinked confusedly when she noticed the man started frowning at her, then shook his head in dismay. he patted itaru’s shoulder again, but this time as a comforting gesture. at last, he gave her one last disapproving look before taking his leave. she couldn’t quite erase the feeling that she disappointed the old man somewhat by showing up here. 

“i’ll see you later, chigasaki.”

itaru bowed, and izumi felt the need to follow his example, as if she trespassed on unknown territory.

as the three individuals left, itaru made a mental note to mention the incident to chikage later on, so they could prepare themselves for questions and unexpected...discussions. then again, it was their fault their director is now being viewed like some two-timer who couldn’t decide between the two of them. 

“um. i guess i shouldn’t have come here,” izumi smiled awkwardly. “i really only meant to drop those off. besides, i need to buy food before the others come home.”

he quickly tugged on her wrist before she made her leave. 

“is something wrong itaru-san?”

“director, would you like to have lunch with me? i’m on my break right now.”

“eh? but i might be a bother-”

“there’s a new indian restaurant that recently opened up near here. apparently, it got senpai’s stamp of approval. wanna check out their curry menu together?”

her eyes sparkled, all thoughts of grocery shopping fleeing her mind. “okay!”

itaru gave her a small smile. this might not be enough compensation for the gossip that will follow, but it’s the least he could do for now.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm open to suggestions on how to make itaru suffer. thnx.


End file.
